Word: ky
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Lexington, Ky...
...criticism of Saigon's venal, indolent bureaucracy by halving government salaries (Ky's $13,200 included), eliminating officials' fringe benefits, such as housing allowances, and decreeing that any public employee caught stealing more than 1,000 piasters ($15) would face a firing squad...
Most brand-new Western governments these days talk bravely of a dramatic "first 100 days." In South Viet Nam, where few regimes hope to stay in power that long, new Premier Nguyen Cao Ky decided to divide his trial period by ten. In his supersonic first week, Fighter Pilot Ky (rhymes with wheel) got more done than any other Vietnamese leader has accomplished in the 20 months since Ngo Dinh Diem was assassinated. In rapid succession, the Saigon government...
Militant Catholics and Buddhists-the main threat to any Saigon regime -were skeptical about Ky's chances of survival, but seemed willing to give him a chance. U.S. officials cautioned privately that Ky was too young and impulsive to endure for long in the volatile world of Saigon politics. Ky himself was aware of the dangers that plague anyone in that sphere. "I have told my wife to buy me a coffin," he remarked to reporters. "But as soon as I fall, another member of the team will replace me. There is no question of the government...
...Ky's stamp is clearly visible on the 83rd Detachment at Saigon's Tanson-hut airbase. Like their commander, the 83rd's pilots wear black flying suits with purple scarves. They call themselves Than Phong ("divine wind," the translation of the Japanese "kamikaze" of World War II). Boss of the 83rd is Hanoi-born Major Luu Kim Cuong, at 32 a 13-year veteran of Viet Nam's long war, and a confidant of Ky's. Cuong has logged more than 8,500 flying hours, taught himself to fly the Skyraider in a mere three...